Poverty and Migration in Western Balkan Countries

Abstract

According to Lee (1966), the number of immigrants in a specific country is positively related with the level of the corresponding diversity of areas and people. Negative economic conditions in origin countries lead to the increase of migration flows; as a consequence, we find high immigrant volumes in wealthier countries and a significant level of mobility in least developed countries. Every stream provokes a counterstream: a relevant part of immigrants return to their home country, due to possible future economic recessions or to the learning or developing particular skills. Dissimilarity between countries and strong immigration barriers reinforce the counterstream effect. We analyze in this paper the link between poverty and migration in Western Balkan countries, and the respective implications for reforms and policies. The number of Western Balkan citizens who emigrate to developed European countries has dramatically increased over the past years. This is a consequence of increasing unemployment, poverty and social inequality. We also estimate a particular econometric model, including different experimental variables, related with migration and poverty.